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Vanderbilt Looking To Pull Even In Conference Play When Tennessee Visits Wednesday 2/1/2005
Vanderbilt Looking To Pull Even In Conference Play When Tennessee Visits Wednesday Vanderbilt faces in-state rival Tennessee Wednesday in a key Southeastern Conference Eastern Division battle with the winner pulling even at 4-4 midway through league play. The contest begins at 7 p.m. CT and will be televised by Jefferson Pilot Sports. Game Notes Prior to the game 5,000 Matt Freije scratch cards will be given away with 1,500 winners receiving a bobblehead of Vanderbilt’s all-time leading scorer. The National Commodore Club also will be distributing 1,000 free T-shirts. The Commodores (12-8, 3-4 SEC) are coming off a 73-51 victory against visiting Ole Miss Saturday. Vanderbilt shot a season-high 61.4 percent from the field and was led in scoring by Corey Smith’s 14 points. The win snapped a four-game losing streak. Mario Moore added 12 points and a game-high five assists. Ted Skuchas dropped in a career-high 11 points as the Commodores won at home for the 11th time in 12 tries this season. The Volunteers (10-10, 3-4 SEC) fell 62-59 at Auburn on Saturday. C.J. Watson poured in a game-high 17 points and Scooter McFadgon added 14 points and nine rebounds for Tennessee. Vanderbilt entered play Tuesday leading the SEC in 3-pointers per game (10.05), 3-point shooting percentage (.405) and 3-pointers made (201) and attempted (496). Tennessee’s Chris Lofton and VU’s Shan Foster rank first and second, respectively, among the top freshmen 3-point shooters in the league. Lofton is shooting 49.5 percent (53-of-107) beyond the arc while Foster is hitting 47.9 percent (35-of-73) of his 3-point attempts. A pair of Commodore seniors have led the team of late. Smith is averaging a team-high 12.8 points and ranks second on the squad with 5.0 rebounds over the last 12 games. He is shooting 54.3 percent from the field (57-of-105) and 48.9 percent from beyond the arc (22-of-45) during the 12-game stretch. Jason Holwerda is hitting 72.9 percent from the field (35-of-48) over the past eight games, averaging 9.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Tennessee leads the all-time series 102-64, but Vanderbilt enjoys a 43-30 advantage in Nashville. |
